sat suite question viewer
The three points shown define a circle. The circumference of this circle is , where is a constant. What is the value of ?
Explanation
The correct answer is . It's given that the three points shown define a circle, so the center of that circle is an equal distance from each of the three points. The point is halfway between the points and , and is a distance of units from each of those two points. The point is also a distance of units from . Because the point is the same distance from all three points shown, it must be the center of the circle. Since that distance is , it follows that the radius of the circle is . The circumference of a circle with radius is equal to . It follows that the circumference of the given circle is , or . It's given that the circumference of the circle is . Therefore, the value of is .